(Original post by JosieG)
As someone who does physics, I really REALLY wouldnt recommend taking it unless you have a keen interest in it and you're good at maths. And I can't see how it would relate to geog at all, although if you can get a good grade it does look impressive. My advice would definitely be biology!

That's the thing. I know I can get a good grade if I put my mind to it, and I'm fairly interested in it. But when I say 'fairly interested' I mean, I don't get bored during lessons, I try to apply Physics to real life... However, I don't research any Physics stuff at home, yet I do with other subjects (Geography, German, History)! Also, I'm OK at Maths - predicted A at GCSE, hope to get an A*. But with maths, I literally do learn from the textbook/teacher - no outside research/interest.

Would you say the stuff above is 'keen' enough? I don't know what people mean when they say 'keen interest' - how do you measure that?

(Original post by supergrantholt)
Would you say the stuff above is 'keen' enough?

With physics, there will probably be a unit on quantum phenomena. At least mine has.

This is as interesting as A-level physics gets in my opinion, if you are fascinated by this video enough to want to know more then I would say that you are interested enough to take physics. If this doesn't make you want to know more then you probably aren't interested enough.

Thanks for that! After watching that, I was definitely very interested. Where's the next video?! I recognized the wave diffraction - interference from earlier this year (not sure it was on the curriculum but our physics teacher doesn't teach by the course specification!)...

(Original post by supergrantholt)
Yes! I thought I was rather brave as well!

I have heard some very different views - some people have said it's the hardest a-level - harder than other a-level languages for some reason?! Others (like you) have said it's not much harder than GCSE.

Is it structured similarly to GCSE? In that roughly 25% each of Speaking, Writing, Listening and Reading make up the A-level? What sort of topics are you doing? I should really consult the prospectus but what the hell!?

Sorry for all the questions!

I personally haven't found it much harder than GCSE, what is your German like now? It is structured similar (ish) to GCSE, depending on the exam board. I did AQA German for GCSE, but this year I'm doing Edexcel AS German, so the most noticeable difference is the lack of coursework this year. We have a speaking exam, worth about 30% of the AS grade, and then an exam which combines Reading, Listening and Writing which is 70% of AS, and the percentages are less for the full A Level qualification, but I'm not sure of the specifics. The topics we're doing are 'The Environment', 'School', 'Youth Culture and Concerns' and 'Health' (Those are the speaking topics), but they use vocabulary from all the spectrum in the exam. It really depends on your exam board, but the speaking exams are more of a discussion and are a lot longer than at GCSE, and you don't get to prepare your answers in advance, since the topics are so broad, anything could be asked, so lots of practice is needed to help the conversation flow. It gets recorded and then marked by an examiner, and the grade boundaries seem to be lower for German than my other subjects. I think a B is about 68% ? So yeah, the real challenges come at A2 where you have to debate in German and write creatively.

(Original post by supergrantholt)
That's the thing. I know I can get a good grade if I put my mind to it, and I'm fairly interested in it. But when I say 'fairly interested' I mean, I don't get bored during lessons, I try to apply Physics to real life... However, I don't research any Physics stuff at home, yet I do with other subjects (Geography, German, History)! Also, I'm OK at Maths - predicted A at GCSE, hope to get an A*. But with maths, I literally do learn from the textbook/teacher - no outside research/interest.

Would you say the stuff above is 'keen' enough? I don't know what people mean when they say 'keen interest' - how do you measure that?

Sorry if that looks stupid

Haha I'm doing my alevels and I still don't do any outside of subject research so I wouldnt worry about that! maybe see if you can find an alevel textbook or have a look online to see what's in the course so you have a feel for whether you'd find it interesting and how difficult you'll find it. Again I'd say unless you're considering taking maths, even just as an AS subject, you are really likely to find physics hard.

Is there like a careers advisor or anything at your school? or even one of your teachers? they're more likely to know your ability and whats best for you than any advice I can give you

I would definitely say Biology as it is very interesting although ther's a lot of info to learn, for me it's one of my best subjects as i picked, Biology, Chemistry, Pe, Maths (For me Chemistary Being the hardest) just go with what you are happiest with, really there isn't a right or wrong, as you can do other subjects at uni which could complement it, Hope it helps

(Original post by Larry31)
I would personally have said biology, because the ecology stuff seems to match geography quite well...I do bio and chem and I can't see how chem would relate except with the very small chapters on green chemistry. Obviously I can't account for physics, but from what my friend has told me, it's more math than anything.

I would have said Chemistry because at GCSE some of the Chemistry stuff I do in Geography.Physics doesn't link in too much.